Salty's Super Shaker

The Chevy-powered Ford that fueled a life

Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines

It happens in slow motion. The green light at the bottom of the Christmas tree jumps to life and your eyes quickly leap from the illuminated light to the crouching car behind it. The rear wheels begin to spin as the attached rubber distorts like a punch to the face from one heavyweight fighter to another. As the rubber keeps a firm grip on the jet-black pavement below it, the front end leaps into the air. Then, in a flash, the driver and his car are at the other end of the quarter mile in less than 12 seconds, and you never even blinked.
Some things never change. The drag racing tires of today still distort while clawing for grip out of the gate, but sleek, lightweight fiberglass bodies affixed to tube frames have replaced the full-frame, home-modified production racers of yesterday. Countless numbers of racers were competing in the A/ and B/MP--Modified Production--classes in the 1960s and early '70s before rule changes and rising costs began to thin the entries. Some have slipped into obscurity while others raced on into the 1980s and beyond. Joe Saltalamacia, Jr. lived a dream, left his mark, and departed before reaching age 30.
Joe Jr., at the tender age of eight, had been diagnosed with then-incurable Hodgkin's Disease. It's news no parent ever wants to hear, and when the doctors told them that their son would not survive into his mid-teens, they showered him with as much as life had to offer before his passing. They never told Joe Jr. the diagnosis at that young age.
Joe Sr., living in Passaic, New Jersey, purchased a 1955 Thunderbird for his son in 1966. The stock, red Ford at that time was just another used car, and with their financial backing and support, began to transform the car into a winning drag racer. By the time it hit the track in 1967, a 289-cu.in. small-block engine, accompanied by two four-barrel carburetors, was under the hood. For two years, Salty's Super Shaker ran 12-second quarter-mile times, and took second place at the Custom Car Show at the New York Coliseum in 1968.
The Saltalamacia family wanted to go faster, and found power via New Jersey speed shop owner and engine builder Carmen Rotonda. He built and installed a Chevy 427-cu.in. engine with a 12:1 compression ratio, aluminum L88 heads and crank, topped off with dual 650cfm Holley four-barrels and a Weiand tunnel ram manifold. It has an estimated 680hp. A Muncie M-22 four-speed passed the power from front to rear.
Joe's revamped T-Bird competed in the A/ and B/MP classes from 1968 to 1973 with a best time of 10.19 seconds at 136 mph. The family raced all over the country; the Ford sporting contestant decals from the Summernationals at Raceway Park in New Jersey, the Gatornationals in Florida, the World Finals in Amarillo, Texas, and even Sanair in neighboring Canada. However, time and competition caught up with Salty's Shaker thanks in part to Paul Bevin's B/MP Corvette.
In 1974, Joe Jr. raced the T-Bird in the D/Gas class, forced there by a then-recent NHRA rule change: The Shaker's last showing had been at the Summernationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. The Ford was retired, and the following year the family began work on a 1969 Camaro Pro Stock race car; no expense spared. The Camaro was never raced. Joe's health took a turn for the worse, and he passed away in 1979 at the age of 29, outliving everyone's expectations of what was supposed to be a short life.
Joe's parents--who are still alive today--eventually sold the family garage, including both racers and the 1970 Chevy hauler, to a local developer. By a stroke of luck, the T-Bird and hauler found their way to Joe Jr.'s long-time friend Frank Torres, who kept the car safely stored in his garage for 20 years. Enter Bob Salerno, today the current caretaker of the Shaker. Familiar with the Ford, thanks to a color handout of the car he had in his personal collection for 20-plus years, Bob met Frank 10 years ago, and soon after lost touch with him. By chance in 2004, the two met again, and Bob purchased both the Shaker and the hauler on Father's Day in 2005 with a promise to restore the Ford to its past glory.
The Thunderbird still carried its shortened 1959 Oldsmobile rear end with 5.88 gears, and the original M&H Racemaster 32 x 12-inch slicks were still mounted on the Crager S/S mag wheels. Though most of the red paint remained in good condition, Bob intends to keep as much of the exterior as possible "as is," with only some minor touch-up to the paint and lettering where needed. Mechanically, the Ford has been restored, including a rebuild of the back-up engine using parts supplied during the purchase. "One box contained a set of aluminum L88 heads with Salty's Shaker engraved in them, so we put them on the block" says Bob. "The only things left to do are install the cooling and fuel systems. The 427 was not in the car when I purchased it, and reinstalling the 427 Chevy into the T-Bird engine compartment was a challenge. There was a lot of custom fabrication work done by my friend Dave Hanley." The plan is to fire the Ford up shortly and start touring, then focus on restoring the accompanying hauler.
Joe and his Salty's Super Shaker took 30-plus class victories, and even a young Linda Vaughn posed with the Ford at the 1968 New York Coliseum. Thanks to Bob, Joe Jr.'s Shaker is coming back to life on, and off, the track.

This article originally appeared in the September, 2006 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.